Fruit Rolls

One of the things that we have been talking about trying since we started this blog is Fruit Rolls. You know those sticky candy rolls that you buy just when you thought you were done shopping in the supermarket. They usually contain gelatin, preservatives and a whole lot of sugar. After a quick recipe search on the internet it seems like that doesn’t have to be the case. Just using fruit is actually enough to make candy in all kind of shapes and colors. In contrast to our seven-minute-sweets, this candy is more of a seven hour thing! Making them is actually quite simple but they need a long time in the oven on the lowest temperature possible. We decided to make two different kinds, yellow (mango, apricots and oranges) and red (raspberries, blackberries and bananas), they both tasted great!
Scroll down to see how we made them.
Oh – one more thing – we just signed up for twitter. Since we don’t have the time to update and take pictures for this blog every day we thought that we could at least tweet once a day (or more). Become our first followers here.Fruit Rolls

When making fruit rolls you can basically use whatever fruit you have at home. Either you can stick to one sort of fruit or you can mix different kinds. You can also mix fresh, frozen and dried fruit.
We used 1 fresh mango, 200 g dried apricots, 1 orange (the juice) to make the yellow. And frozen raspberries, frozen blackberries and 1 banana to make the red. We have written some more fruit suggestions further down. You can also add spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla pods or mint leaves.

Warm the fruit in a pot on the stove and mix it into a puree. If there are seeds in the puree you can pour it into a sieve to get the seeds out (we didn’t). Spread the puree on a parchment paper, 1 1/2 cup of fruit puree is enough for 1 baking sheet, and put in the oven on 140°F (or as low as your oven can go). Let the oven door be a little bit open to let the moist out.
They are done when the puree isn’t sticky anymore, you normally need between 5-8 hours depending on the oven (if the temperature is higher they will be done in less time, but there is a risk they get burnt and too dry). Use a scissor to cut them and roll them when they are still warm (we used a pencil to get the right shape).

Fruit suggestions:
Here are some fruit mixes that we will try the next time.Green: Kiwi, mango and mint leavesBlue: Blueberries and grape juiceRed: Strawberries and banana

Sprinkle coconut flakes and serve them as Fruit flats. Or roll them into Fruit Roll-Ups

MaryMoh, Miriam, Ashley: Thanks for the comments, we are happy that you like the fruit rolls! Although they need a long oven-time they are really worth the wait.
One other thing that we forgot to write. If you try new fruit combos, remember that all the fruit flavors will be more intense as they dry in the oven.
Happy baking!

Andi: We used 250 g frozen raspberries, 200 g frozen blackberries, and 1 banana to make it a bit more sweeter. We didn’t use any blueberries but I bet that it would taste just as great changing the blackberries for blueberries. You could add honey as well if you got a sweet tooth …

Anna: After cooking the fruit you can absolutely throw it into a blender to puree it.
We used an immersion blender since our blender is broke. Make sure that all the fruit is pureed well.
/David

Rob: Thanks!Kim: We stored them in plastic and tin jars. Not entirely sure how long they can last. They were finished within a week and the last one still tasted good.Jenna: We agree! They say you shouldn’t bake them over night in case they get burnt, but we just couldn’t sit around waiting, so we set the alarm and went to bed for a couple of hours. And early early in the morning they were just about ready.

I make these with my kids frequently using my dehydrator. I’ve never cooked the fruit, I just puree it and I always add applesauce. I remember reading years ago that Applesauce acts as a binder. Plus, it really stretches the fruit. I don’t use my homemade applesauce for it but I suppose if I did, it would be the one cooked fruit I would use. I do sometimes use canned fruit, though. The applesauce doesn’t seem to take away from the flavor of the other fruit. I love the creative ingredients you’ve suggested.
Makes me wonder what tomatoes and cilantro or basil leather would taste like.

I love your blog! My son is 5 & gluten free & good, cheap treats are hard to find. We have just installed a wood heater/cook stove (http://www.pivotstove.com.au/products/p-32-stanley-stanley-errigal) in our kitchen so these will be great to try in the oven, which will be warm all winter (we are in Australia, so winter is about to begin). Got some pears going to waste, now just to decide what to mix them with……!!!
Thanks for the inspiration!

Ahh! I’ve been following your blog for a while now, and I adore it, but this is my first comment, for some reason. I love this, and I’ll definitely make this when I have the time. Probably in the summer. This would make a fantastic gift, too. Are they perishable?

Just stumbled upon your blog from a link to the frozen cheesecake.
These look absolutely tasty and remind me of the natural fruit leather I got as a kid. perhaps if you google fruit leather, but I havn’t tried so.
Absolutely tasty looking.

wow! I am so, so happy to have stumbled upon your blog. Your recipes are so fantastic & I can’t wait to try this one as I love everything fruit-related & fruit rolls were a childhood staple for me.
Thank you!

I made these! Four fantastically ripe kiwis and a whole pineapple along with two cans of sliced mango did the trick, with absolutely no fuss! I just cooked the pineapple and kiwi until they were fragrant and “mushable” and threw the mush into the blender with the mangos, voila.

That much fruit yielded me about three 9″ by 17″ cookie sheets full of the best fruit leather I’ve ever had :) I burned the first batch by putting it in for more than eight hours, so it came out hard and crispy, sort of like a fruit chip. Not too bad, either, actually!

Truckloads of thank-yous for this whizzbang recipe that will allow me to never go to sleep feeling badly for letting fruit go to waste again!!

How do you prevent the mix sticking to the “parchment paper”? Is that the same as greaseproof or waxed paper? I used rice paper, and it didn’t turn out too badly, it just sort of melted into the fruit, but it did stick to the baking tray a bit.